M  O  S  E  S„ 


THE  SERVANT  OF  THE  LORD. 


ilBRARYOFPRINCCTDN 


L' 


m2e2m 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 


BV 

4305 

.V36 

M67 

1858 


BV4305.V36  M67  1858 
Van  Dyke ,  Henry  J . 
Moses,  the  servant  of 
the  Lord;  a  sermon  preach- 
ed m  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church,  Brooklyn,  N.Y.  on 
Sabbath,  August  15th,  1858. 


MOSES,  THE  SEKVANT  OF  THE  LORD. 


A  SEPvMON 


f  rcacl)ctr  in  i^c  gmt  f  rcsbDlcriait  C^mcj), 


BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 


On   Sabbath,    Aa-u^st   15th,   lw5a. 


BY  REV.  HENRY  J.  VAN  DYKE,  TASTUR. 


P  XJ  33  L  I  S  H  PJ  D    K  Y    R  K  Q  XJ  K  S  T  . 


NEW     YORK: 

FRENCH  &  WIIKAT,  BOOK  AND  JOB  PRINTERS,  18  ANN  STREET. 

1858. 


Brooklyn,  August  20th,  1858. 


Rev.  H.  J.  Van  Dyke  : 


Dear  Sir  : — Believing  that  the  cause  of  Christ  may  be  promoted 
by  the  pubhcation  of  the  discourse  you  delivered  to  your  ])eople  on  Sabbath 
morning  last,  we  earnestly  desire  you  will  furnish  a  copy  for  that  jiurpose. 

We  shall  cherish  its  possession  as  another  of  the  delightful  mementoes  of 
your  ministry  among  us. 

Ve)-y  truly  yours, 

J.  LEDYARD, 
HENRY  BUTLER, 
HENRY  SHELDON, 
W.  S.  DUNHAM, 
JNO.  SCRYMSER, 
HENRY  S.  HILL, 
GEO.  S.  SAMPSON, 
JOHN  LAIDLAW 


Brooklyn,  August  23cZ,  1858. 


To  Messrs.  Ledyarp,  Butler,  Sheldon,  and  others. 

Gentlemen — My  discourse  was  prepai-ed  with  an  honest  pui'pose  to  promote 
the  cause  of  Christ.  If  in  your  judgment  its  ])iiblication  will  in  any  degree 
secure  that  end,  I  ought  not  to  withhold  it  from  you. 

Yours  truly  in  Christ, 

HENRY  J.  VAN  DYKR. 


M  OSES, 

THE     SERVANT     OF     THE     LORD 


Deuteronomy  34,  5-8. 

"  So  Moses,  the  servant  of  the  Lord,  died  there  in  the  land  of  Moab,  according  to  the  word 
of  the  Lord.  And  he  buried  liim  in  a  valley  in  the  land  of  Moab,  over  against  Betli-peor : 
but  no  man  knoweth  of  his  sepulchre  unto  this  day.  And  Moses  was  a  hundred  and  twenty 
years  old  when  he  died  :  his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated.  And  the  children 
of  Israel  wept  for  Moses  in  the  plains  of  Moab  thirty  days  :  so  the  days  of  weeping  and  mourning 
for  Moses  were  ended." 

This  record  is  sublime  in  its  simplicity,  and  full  of 
profitable  truth.  It  describes  in  few,  but  weighty 
words,  the  death,  burial,  character,  and  public  estima- 
tion of  the  most  illustrious  of  the  sons  of  men.  Each 
of  these  topics  would  furnish  rich  materials  for  a  long 
discourse,  of  which  I  now  propose  to  give  you  only  a 
hasty  sketch. 

I.    THE    DEATH    OF    MOSES 

1.    Was  the  exact  fulfillment  of  a  divine  decree. 

He  "  died  there  hi  the  land  of  Moab,  according  to 
the  word  of  the  Lord." 

Go  back  in  the  history  to  the  place  so  sigiiilicantly 
called  the  waters  of  Meribah,  "  because  the  children  of 
Israel  strove  with  the  Lord."  The  stream  that  had 
followed  them  from  the  rock  of  Rephidim,  during  so 
many  years  of  their  wandering  (thus  typifying,  as  the 
Apostle  tells  us,  the  spiritual  blessings  which  How  out 


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to  a  perishing  world  from  a  smitten  Saviour),  had  at 
length  failed  them.  Forgetting  both  the  wrath 
under  which  their  fathers  had  perished  in  the 
wilderness,  and  the  mercy  by  which  they  were 
hitherto  preserved,  the  gross-hearted  people  broke 
out  with  bitter  complaints  against  God  and  his 
servant.  This  was  too  much,  even  for  the  meekness 
of  Moses.  He  was  stung  to  the  quick  by  their  ingrati- 
tude towards  himself,  and  their  stupid  rebellion  against 
his  Master.  Accordingly,  when  God  told  him  to  ' '  speak 
to  the  rock  before  their  eyes,  and  it  should  give  forth 
water,"  instead  of  obeying  the  commandment  implicitly 
and  in  the  same  spirit  of  long-suifering  in  which  it  was 
given,  he,  in  his  turn,  broke  out  in  bitter  reproaches 
against  the  people.  "Hear  now,  ye  rebels,"  he 
exclaims  ;  * '  must  we  fetch  you  water  out  of  this  rock  ?" 
And  then,  forgetting  in  his  anger  the  commandment 
simply  to  speak  to  the  rock,  he  smote  it  with  the  rod. 
Against  this  offense  God's  displeasure  was  immediately 
manifested.  The  voice  from  heaven  declared  that 
neither  Moses  nor  Aaron,  who  had  sanctioned  his 
conduct,  should  lead  the  people  into  the  promised  land  ; 
they  should  both  die  upon  its  borders.  Much  has 
been  said  as  to  the  precise  nature  of  this  offense,  and 
the  reason  why  it  was  followed  by  what  seems  to  be  so 
severe  a  punishment.  It  has  been  contended,  with 
some  plausibility,  that  the  sin  consisted  partly  in  break- 
ing in  upon  the  designed  analogy  between  the  rock  in 
Horeb  and  the  spiritual  rock,  which  is  Christ.  Once 
smitten  by  the  rod  of  the  great  lawgiver,  the  rock  was 
afterward  to  give  water  when  it  was  only  spoken  to  ; 
thus  dimly  intimating  what  is  afterwards  so  clearly 
revealed,  that  Christ  once  crucified  under  the  law  for 


sin,  (lies  no  more,  but  is  henceforth  a  fountain  of  hving 
waters  to  be  opened  by  tlie  simple  breath  of  [)rayer. 
Hence  it  is  said  that  Moses,  by  disobeying  the  letter  of 
God's  command,  marred  the  beauty  of  this  typical 
revelation. 

It  is  maintained  also,  with  the  same  kind  of  plausi- 
bility, that  the  death  of  Moses  has  a  much  broader  sig- 
nificance than  as  a  mere  punishment  for  his  sin.  The 
departure  of  the  great  lawgiver  on  the  borders  of  Ca- 
naan and  the  triumphant  entrance  of  the  people  under 
the  leadership  of  Joshua  (which  is,  by  interpretation, 
Jesus),  dimly  foreshadows  the  transactions  of  the  cross 
and  the  sepulchre  ;  when  as  the  Grreat  Prophet  like 
unto  Moses  died,  the  Levitical  system  which  he  had  es- 
tablished was  finished  and  done  away  ;  and  as  the 
second  Joshua  arose  and  ascended  in  triumph,  the  way 
was  fully  opened  over  death,  the  spiritual  Jordan,  into 
the  heavenly  Canaan.  This  explanation  is  plausible, 
and  so  far  as  it  goes,  probably  true  ;  but  it  is  not  the 
chief  lesson  here  written  for  our  learning.  The  most 
solemn  and  instructive  meaning  of  the  record  lies  upon 
the  surface.  Moses  sinned  and  the  Lord  punished  liim 
with  death  on  the  borders  of  the  promised  land.  What 
could  more  strikingly  illustrate  in  the  eyes  of  all  Israel 
the  great  truth,  that  stift-necked  people  were  so  slow 
to  learn,  that  God,  though  abundant  in  goodness,  will 
by  no  means  clear  the  guilty  ?  Doubtless  the  record 
stands  here  before  all  ages,  to  teach  the  double  lesson, 
that  the  weakest  and  best  of  men  are  sul)ject  to  like 
passions  with  ourselves,  and  that  God,  in  his  holiness, 
will  not  overlook  sin  even  in  his  favorite  servants. 
There  were  unbelief  and  pride,  and  its  twin  sister,  un- 
governed  anger,  in  the  conduct  of  Moses,     He  should 


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not  have  felt  for  a  moment  that  the  rod  in  his  hand 
was  needful  to  verify  the  sure  word  of  prophecy.  He 
ought  to  have  magnified  the  power  and  goodness  of 
God  before  the  people  ;  and  if  the  master  could  afford 
patiently  to  bear  with  their  rebellion,  it  was  not  for  the 
servant  to  assume  the  office  of  avenger.  Let  the  les- 
son never  be  forgotten.  A  holy  Father  laid  the  rod  of 
discipline  even  on  the  back  of  Moses  ;  and,  therefore, 
let  not  the  Christian  who  has  dwelt  longest  and  the 
most  intimately  on  the  mount  of  communion,  and  ser- 
ved his  master  most  faithfully  during  the  longest  life, 
suppose  that  he  can  commit  the  smallest  sin  without 
being  rebuked  by  the  Lord.  The  rebuke  in  the  case  of 
Moses  was  peculiarly  severe. 

2.  His  death  was  attended  with  special  aggravations. 

It  was  not  merely  the  fact,  which  he  so  often  and 
with  such  deep  contrition  confesses  before  the  people, 
that  the  Lord  was  angry  with  him.  It  was  not 
merely  that  the  sentence  of  death  so  soon  to  be  execu- 
ted shocked  the  instinctive  love  of  life  which  always 
grows  stronger  with  increasing  years,  and  must  have 
been  peculiarly  strong  in  his  undimmed  eye  and  una- 
bated strength.  There  were  ties  of  peculiar  tender- 
ness which  that  sentence  was  about  to  sever.  Moses 
was  a  true  friend,  and  loved  the  people  in  whose  service 
his  life  had  been  spent.  He  was  a  true  patriot,  and 
longed  to  see  the  prosperity  of  that  people  in  their 
own  land.  He  was  a  true  man,  and  had  all  a  man's 
natural  desire  to  enjoy  repose  after  years  of  toil,  and  to 
be  crowned  with  the  full  success  of  a  life-long  enterprise. 
He  had  chosen  to  suffer  affliction  with  the  people  of 
God ;  and  now  having  sacrificed   for  their   sakes  the 


riches  of  Egypt,  must  he  be  excluded  from  their  re- 
compense of  reward  ?  Though  he  was  old,  according 
to  the  standard  of  those  days,  yet  he  had  not  attained 
to  the  years  of  the  life  of  his  fathers.  Must  he  be  cut 
down  in  his  vigor,  and  in  the  height  of  his  usefulness  ? 
Must  the  people  for  whom  he  had  toiled  with  unfalter- 
ing affection  for  forty  years,  be  deprived  of  his  wisdom 
and  example  at  this  most  important  juncture  of  their 
history?  Filled  with  such  thoughts  as  these,  Moses  pros- 
trated himself  before  Grod  and  prayed  for  the  revocation 
of  the  bitter  sentence.  Like  the  great  Intercessor  whom 
he  typified,  he  prayed  earnestly  that  the  cup  might 
pass  from  him — saying  "  Oh,  Lord,  thou  hast  begun  to 
show  thy  servant  thy  greatness  and  thy  mighty  hand. 
I  pray  thee  let  me  go  over  and  see  the  goodly  land  that 
is  beyond  Jordan,  that  goodly  mountain  and  Lebanon." 
But  it  might  not  be  ;  the  decree  is  unalterable  ;  and  he 
who  had  so  often  interceded  successfully  for  others,  is 
denied  the  blessings  he  craves  for  himself.  The  Lord 
said,  "  Let  it  suffice  thee  ;  speak  no  more  unto  me  of 
this  matter.  Get  thee  up  into  the  top  of  Pisgali  and 
behold  it  with  thine  eyes,  for  thou  shalt  not  go  over 
Jordan."  Meekly  and  heroically  the  man  of  God  sub- 
mitted. Except  only  the  sublime  courage  with  which 
Jesus  said,  "  Thy  will  be  done,"  and  rose  up  from 
prayer  to  gird  himself  for  the  coming  conllict,  there 
is  not  on  record  an  example  so  glorious  as  that  of  Mo- 
ses— calmly  waiting  and  working  during  all  the  days 
of  his  appointed  time.  Though  he  may  not  share  the 
people's  triumph  he  does  not  "  bate  one  jot  of  heart  or 
hope"  in  their  behalf.  During  nearly  three  years  that 
elapsed  from  the  utterance  to  the  execution  of  the  sen- 
tence, he  filled  his  office  with  sleepless  vigilance.     The 


10 

knowledge  that  he  must  soon  depart  only  made  his 
zeal  more  earnest  and  tender.  No  opportunity  was 
neglected  and  no  means  unemployed,  by  which  his  fol- 
lowers might  be  prepared  for  the  inheritance  from  which 
he  was  cut  off.  As  the  appointed  time  approaches,  he 
recounts  in  the  great  congregation  all  the  dealings  of 
the  Lord.  His  doctrine  drops  as  the  rain,  and  distils  as 
the  dew  in  his  farewell  words.  His  whole  soul  is  pour- 
ed out  in  the  blessing  he  pronounces  upon  the  united 
nation  and  upon  each  individual  tribe.  And  then  hav- 
ing finished  his  work,  he  goes  up  with  an  unfaltering 
step  and  an  undimmed  eye,  to  that  mysterious  moun- 
tain top  where  he  is  to  die  alone  with  his  God.  There 
is  an  unparalleled  moral  grandeur  in  this  closing  act  of 
his  life.  It  is  not  merely  a  worthy  end  to  his  eventful 
career  ;  it  stands  alone  and  unequalled  in  that  career. 
Not  when  he  appeared  before  Pharaoh  to  deliver  the 
mandates  of  the  great  I  am  ;  nor  when  he  poured  out 
the  plagues  upon  Egypt ;  nor  when  his  outstretched 
arm  rolled  the  deadly  waves  over  the  hosts  of  the 
enemy  ;  nor  when  he  came  down  from  Sinai  with  his 
face  all  glowing  from  that  divine  communion  ;  never 
does  he  appear  so  sublime  as  when  he  goes  up  calmly 
"  according  to  the  word  of  the  Lord,"  to  that  mysteri- 
ous death  and  that  unknown  burial.  I  can  imagine 
though  I  can  find  no  adequate  words  to  picture  the 
scene.  An  event  so  long  predicted  and  so  carefully 
prepared  for,  could  hardly  occur  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  people.  I  see  the  congregation  of  Israel  swarm- 
ing in  the  valley,  from  which  the  mighty  Nebo  goes  up 
a  rocky  stairway  into  heaven.  They  stand  with  fune- 
real silence  with  their  eyes  riveted  on  the  familiar 
form  of  their  great  leader  as  he   toils  step  by  step  and 


11 

hour  by  hour  up  the  side  of  the  mountain.  His  stature 
is  erect,  his  step  elastic  ;  and  were  it  not  for  the 
bleached  locks  and  venerable  beard  that  shine  like 
snow  in  the  sunlight,  no  one  might  suppose  that  up- 
right and  vigorous  traveler  bears  the  burden  of  six  score 
years.  Hours  pass  away  and  still  he  presses  on  ;  and 
still  the  straining  eyes  of  the  multitude  are  fixed  upon 
him.  The  receding  form  grows  smaller  and  smaller  as 
they  gaze.  Now  they  can  no  longer  discern  his  fea- 
tures as  he  turns  to  cast  another,  and  yet  another  tare- 
well  look  towards  the  tents  of  Israel.  Now  his  limbs 
are  midistinguishable — he  seems  like  a  bird,  an  in- 
sect, a  speck  on  the  side  of  the  mountain.  And  now 
he  has  faded  away  entirely  from  their  sight.  The 
curtain  has  fallen  before  the  drama  of  that  wonderful 
life,  just  as  the  final  catastrophe  was  approaching. 
Who  shall  describe  the  closing  scene  ?  Who  shall  look 
behind  that  drapery  of  clouds  through  which  the  radi- 
ance of  the  declining  sun  streams  in  purple  and  gold, 
and  reveal  the  secrets  of  that  awfully  magnificent  death- 
bed ?  A  mysterious  and  fearful  thing  it  is,  even 
when  surrounded  by  the  ministrations  of  friends,  the 
good  man  gathers  his  feet  up  into  the  bed  and  yields  up 
the  ghost.  Who  can  anticipate  the  tearing  away  of 
the  soul  from  the  embrace  of  the  body,  the  freezing 
of  these  warm  limbs,  and  the  sealing  up  of  these  senses 
in  the  cold  night  of  the  grave,  without  an  instinctive 
shudder  ?  Oli  God,  it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  die  !  And 
yet  would  it  not  add  much  to  the  solemnity  of  this  an- 
ticipation, if  we  could  know  that  in  our  last  moments, 
no  wife  or  mother  would  bend  over  us  to  whisper 
words  of  comfort  and  catch  our  parting  breath  ;  no 
friend  follow  us  to  our  burial,  or  place  one  memorial 


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of  affection  upon  our  grave  ?  Thus  in  the  vigor  of  his 
life  and  usefuhiess,  on  the  borders  of  that  inheritance 
to  which  he  had  so  long  pressed  forward,  lonely  and 
far  away  from  all  he  had  loved  on  earth,  did  Moses  die. 

3.  A?id  yet,  while  it  was  attended  with  jKculiar  aggrava- 
tions, his  death  had  also  its  -peculiar  blessings  ! 

After  all,  was  it  not  better  for  him  to  die  like  a  true 
soldier  with  his  harness  on  ?  What  wise  man  would 
wish  to  outlive  his  active  usefulness  ?  Could  his  history 
have  been  as  complete,  and  its  closing  scene  as  glorious 
if  he  had  lived  in  Canaan  till  the  evil  days  of  tottering 
and  weakness  had  come  upon  him  ?  Is  it  certain  or 
even  probable  that  if  he  had  been  left  to  choose  for 
himself  he  could  have  selected  a  more  fitting  time  and 
place  for  his  departure  ?  True  he  was  alone  ;  and  yet 
he  was  not  alone,  for  the  Father  was  with  him.  That 
mountain  solitude  was  peopled  by  a  more  than  human 
presence.  He  breathed  his  last  on  the  bosom  of  his  God, 
and  underneath  him  were  the  everlasting  arms.  We 
may  reasonably  believe  that  there  were  no  bonds  in  his 
death  ;  no  fever  burning  in  his  veins,  no  pains  racking 
his  joints,  no  disease  slowly  wasting  his  flesh.  And  we 
are  sure  that  his  soul  was  sustained  and  made  joyful  in 
his  last  hours,  by  visions  that  blended  earth  with  heaven, 
amid  which  his  life  went  down,  not  like  the  setting  sun 
behind  the  clouded  west,  but  like  the  morning  star 
fading  insensibly  into  the  light  of  the  perfect  day. 
From  the  top  of  ISTebo,  as  from  a  watch  tower  near  the 
gate  of  heaven,  God  showed  him  all  the  rich  inheri- 
tance of  Israel.  From  the  entrance  of  Hamath  even 
to  the  river  of  Egypt,  he  beheld  the  fair  land  arrayed 
not  only  in  its  natural  fruitfulness  but  in  its  historic 


13 

glory.  His  prophetic  eye  rested  upon  that  "goodly 
mountain,"  where  his  own  great  antetype  should  re- 
ject the  glory  of  this  world's  kingdoms  and  utterly 
vanquish  the  tempter  ;  and  that  other  mountain  where 
the  light  of  both  dispensations  should  be  blended  in  the 
transfiguration  of  Messiah  ;  and  that  other  mountain, 
where  all  the  law  and  the  prophets  should  be  fulfilled 
in  the  sacrifice  of  the  great  Paschal  Lamb.  The  same 
spirit  that  had  revealed  to  him  the  secrets  of  creation 
spread  out  as  in  a  map  before  him  the  glories  of  re- 
demption. And  then  from  this  vision  of  earth,  he 
looked  up  to  the  heavenly  Canaan,  and  beheld  those 
things  which  eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard,  nor 
heart  conceived.  Oh.  how  that  Jordan  faded  away  in 
contrast  with  the  river  of  life  ;  how  poor  were  those 
fruitful  valleys  compared  with  the  gardens  of  God's 
delight  ;  and  how  joyfully  did  he  give  up  this  promised 
land,  for  a. free  entrance  into  the  celestial  paradise. 

Who  can  doubt  that  the  death  of  the  great  prophet, 
like  his  life,  was  thus  distinguished  by  God's  special 
favor  ?  And  who  can  fail  to  learn  from  its  contem- 
plation, a  lesson  of  cheerful  hope  ?  We  too,  brethren, 
are  condemned  to  die  before  we  enter  that  land 
of  promised  contentment  and  plenty,  to  which  we 
so  fondly  look  forward.  Never  can  we  attain  a 
satisfying  inheritance  here.  From  some  lofty  mount 
of  anticipation  we  may  see  the  rich  land  in  the 
distance,  but  be  sure  we  shall  die  upon  the  borders. 
God  has  so  appointed.  He  has  fixed  the  very  time 
and  place  of  our  departure.  But  if  we  are  indeed  his, 
he  has  made  these  appointments  in  wisdom  and  in  love. 
Let  us  learn  to  entertain  pleasant  thoughts  of  death. 
Terrible  indeed  it  is  to  nature,  but  grace  triumphs  over 


14 

nature.  Grace  transforms  the  king  of  terrors  into  a 
messenger  of  peace  ;  when  the  body  dissolves,  grace 
gives  the  soul  wings  with  which  to  flee  away  and  be  at 
rest.  After  all  the  pang  is  but  momentary,  but  the 
glory  that  follows  is  eternal.  It  is  but  to  wink  and  then 
see  God.  Wherefore,  with  this  unalterable  sentence 
of  death  upon  you,  work  and  wait  like  Moses  till  the 
appointed  time  ;  and  then  when  the  summons  comes 
go  up  to  the  appointed  place,  feeling  assured  that  how- 
ever lonely  and  mysterious,  it  shall  be  to  you  a  mount 
of  vision,  from  which  you  shall  look  down  calmly  on 
the  fading  beauty  of  earth,  and  then  mount  up  with 
joy  to  the  eternal  glories  of  heaven. 

11.     THE    BURIAL    OF    MOSES. 

On  this  point  the  text  contains  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable statements  in  the  Bible.  It  is  not  singular 
that  his  sepulchre  should  be  unknown,  which  declara- 
tion is  as  true  at  this  day  as  it  was  when  the  text  was 
first  written,  notwithstanding  the  lying  wonders  of  the 
monks  of  Mount  Sinai.  In  this  respect  Moses  shares 
the  common  lot  of  thousands.  The  sands  of  oblivion 
have  covered  the  tombs  of  multitudes  of  earth's 
mightiest  sons ;  and  every  day  men  expire  in  the  lone 
recesses  of  the  forest,  and  go  down  uncoffined  to  the 
hidden  depths  of  the  sea.  Indeed  the  whole  earth  is 
covered  with  unknown  graves  ;  and  if  the  trump  of  the 
resurrection  should  sound,  the  very  dust  whereon  we 
tread,  in  places  where  we  least  think  of  death,  would 
become  instinct  with  life.  But  the  remarkable  part  of 
the  record  is  the  declaration  that  the  Lord  buried  him  ! 
Though  he  died  far  from  all  human  ministration,  yet 
his  body  was  not  left  without  the  last  honors  of  the 


15 

dead.  It  was  laid  with  magnificent  ceremonies  in  a 
sepulchre  not  made  with  hands.  No  doubt  the  last 
rites  were  performed  by  the  ministrations  of  angels. 
The  everlasting  gates  lifted  up  their  heads  that  the  ra- 
diant form  of  cherub  and  seraph  might  go  forth  to  that 
funeral  pomp.  "  The  mountain  was  full  of  horses  and 
chariots  of  fire  ;"  and  the  silence  of  those  awful  heights 
was  ravished  with  floods  of  celestial  melod}^  The 
sepulchre  thus  consecrated,  though  unknown  to  men, 
was  committed  to  the  guardianship  of  a  mighty  arch- 
angel ;  for  "  Michael  contended  with  the  devil  about  the 
body  of  Moses."  Whatever  dispute  there  may  be 
about  this  mysterious  statement  of  Jude,  the  plain 
record  before  us  comes  home  to  our  heart  with  les- 
sons of  comfort  and  hope,  God  buried  Moses,  and 
Michael  defended  his  tomb  !  What  honor  do  these 
facts  put  upon  the  fondness  with  which  we  bend  over 
our  beloved  as  they  lie  cold,  yet  beautiful  in  death  ! 
It  is  natural  and  right  that  their  flesh  should  be  dear 
to  us,  for  Grod  esteems  it  precious.  Amid  the  magnifi- 
cent scenery  of  Nebo,  he  selected  a  secluded  valley  ; 
and  there  he  laid  the  remains  of  his  servant,  with  the 
great  mountain  for  his  monument,  and  the  everlasting 
stars  for  his  funereal  lamps,  and  all  tlie  beauty  and 
riches  of  nature  for  the  garniture  of  his  tomb  !  Oh  ! 
wliat  honor  docs  tliis  put  upon  the  care  with  wliich  we 
sculpture  the  marble,  and  plant  sweet  flowers  by  the 
graves  of  our  beloved  !  And  yet,  at  the  same  time, 
what  comfort  does  it  afford,  if  indeed  we  are  denied 
the  privilege  of  paying  these  honors  to  any  of  the  de- 
parted !  Does  any  one  whose  memory  is  precious  to 
you  lie  upon  a  foreign  shore  in  an  unknown  grave  ? 
Has  the  deep  sea  been  to  any  one  whom  you  love  both 


16 

a  death-bed  and  a  tomb  ?  Do  not  think  their  depar- 
ture was  uncheered,  or  their  resting  place  unhonored 
because  you  were  not  there.  But  think  of  Moses,  and 
say  the  Lord  hurled  him  tl^re !  The  bodies  of  all 
his  saints  have  angels  to  guard  them !  And  oh ! 
how  safely  are  they  kept !  Fifteen  hundred  years 
after  his  mysterious  burial,  the  body  of  Moses  was 
brought  forth,  and  gloriously  arrayed,  appeared 
with  Jesus  on  that  goodly  mountain.  And  so  the 
time  is  coming  when  all  that  are  in  their  graves 
shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  Man.  This  whole 
earth  shall  be  a  mountain  of  transfiguration  ;  and  there 
is  not  one  who  sleeps  in  Jesus  but  shall  appear  with 
him,  having  a  white  and  glistering  raiment  and  a 
countenance  shining  like  the  sun  ! 

III.    THE    CHARACTER    OF    MOSES. 

How  simple,  yet  how  comprehensive  and  weighty 
are  the  words  of  our  text :  ' '  Moses  the  servant  of  the 
Lord  was  an  hundred  and  twenty  years  old  when  he 
died  ;  his  eye  was  not  dim,  nor  his  natural  force  abated  !" 
His  was  a  long  life,  signaUzed  at  every  step  from  the 
cradle  of  bulrushes  in  the  Nile  to  the  mysterious  tomb 
on  Nebo,  by  wonderful  events ;  and  developing  in  its 
progress  the  perfect  proportions  of  a  character  un- 
equalled except  by  one  in  the  annals  of  the  world. 

Like  nearly  all  great  men,  he  was  of  humble  parent- 
age and  born  in  troublous  times.  Yet  by  humble  we 
do  not  mean  ignorant,  or  ungodly  parentage.  They 
were  Israelites  indeed,  trusting  in  God  and  waiting  for 
the  promised  redemption.  The  mother's  breast  on 
which  his  infancy  was  nourished  was  warm  not  only 
with  the  love  of  a  true  woman,  but  with  the  faith  of  a 


17 

true  believer.  Her  eyes  were  not  dazzled  by  the  splen- 
dors of  the  court  into  which  she  was  so  miraculously 
introduced.  She  felt  that  fine  dress  and  gorgeous 
equipages,  and  sumptuous, fare,  are  not  the  chief  end  of 
life.  While  she  was  the  nurse  of  her  child  she  was  also 
his  teacher,  and  fed  his  soul  with  the  sincere  milk  of 
God's  Word. 

Fortified  by  such  instructions,  the  mind  of  Moses  was 
proof  against  the  allurements  of  a  forty  years'  residence 
in  the  Court  of  Egypt,  and  at  the  period  of  life  when 
ambition  is  apt  to  be  the  strongest  he  refused  to  be 
called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter.  Soon  after  we 
find  him  a  fugitive  from  the  scenes  of  his  youth  and 
then  a  shepherd  watching  the  flock  of  a  stranger  in  a 
far  country. 

Let  us  not  think  this  retirement  or  his  lowly  occupa- 
tion unworthy  his  character  and  destiny.  Like  David, 
and  John  the  Baptist,  and  Paul,  and  Christ,  he  was 
prepared  by  meditation  in  the  wilderness  for  the  part 
he  was  to  fill  in  the  world's  history.  There  the  spirit 
of  inspiration  was  his  teacher,  and  the  Great  I  Am 
gave  him  his  commission  from  the  burning  bush. 
We  have  not  time  to  follow  him  in  his  marvellous 
career  from  that  bush  to  the  borders  of  Canaan : 
but  looking  over  that  history  which  is  familiar 
to  us  all,  we  desire  to  ask  what  is  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  his  life  and  character  ?  What  is  it  makes  his 
record  on  high  so  glorious,  and  constitutes  the  chief 
element  in  his  praise  on  earth?  The  text  answers  this 
question,  and  its  simple  testimony  is  most  instructive. 
In  summing  up  his  life  and  character,  and  fixing  to  him 
the  title  which  should  ever  after  distinguish  him,  it 
does  not  say  Moses  the  Great,  the  Conqueror  of  Egypt, 


18 

the  Deliverer  of  Israel,  the  Lawgiver  of  Sinai ;  but 
simply  and  sublimely  "  Moses  the  Servant  of  the  Lord." 
In  all  the  elements  of  greatness  he  stands  foremost 
among  the  heroes  of  antiquity.  Among  statesmen 
none  ever  wrought  such  barbarous  materials  into  so 
perfect  a  commonwealth.  No  military  leader  ever  con- 
ducted such  a  host  through  such  a  wilderness.  No  man 
of  science  ever  looked  so  far  into  the  secrets  of  nature 
or  exerted  like  mastery  over  her  powers.  No  historian 
has  explored  so  thoroughly  the  mysteries  of  antiquity 
or  left  a  record  so  perfect  and  enduring.  But  there  is 
one  comprehensive  fact  that  blends  all  the  traits  of  his 
character  into  symmetry  and  strength,  explains  all  the 
signs  and  wonders  that  he  wrought,  epitomizes  his 
whole  career,  and  imparts  an  imperishable  life  to  his 
name.  He  was  the  Servant  of  the  Lord  ;  his  servant 
in  the  face  of  allurements  and  oppositions,  the  like  of 
which  have  seldom  compassed  the  path  of  man  ;  his 
servant  to  the  very  end  of  life,  laying  his  gray  hairs  on 
the  same  altar  where  he  had  consecrated  the  dew  of 
life's  morning  a  willing  sacrifice. 

Here  is  a  lesson  for  the  votaries  of  lame,  who,  un- 
mindful of  Grod,  seek  only  the  honor  which  cometh  from 
men.  The  ambition  that  impels  them  to  "live  labor- 
ing days,"  is  compounded  of  noble  elements.  But  alas ! 
that  so  much  wealth  of  intellect  and  affection  should  be 
lavished  on  things  that  perish.  Let  them  read  in  the 
history  of  the  world  upon  every  page,  that  fame's  glori- 
ous beauty  is  a  fading  flower,  soon  to  be  bound  and 
withered  in  the  sheaf  of  the  great  reaper,  death  ;  and 
then  beholding  in  Moses  its  living  illustration,  let 
this  saying  of  Grod  ring  in  their  ears  and  burn  upon 
their  hearts  :   ' '  Let  not  the  wise  man  glory  in  his  wis- 


19 

dom,  nor  the  mighty  man  in  his  might ;  but  let  him 
that  glorieth  glory  in  this  that  he  understandeth,  and 
knoweth  Me."  To  serve  God  is  the  true  pathway  to 
glory. 

And  is  there  not  a  lesson  here  for  those  who  profess 
Christ's  name,  and  who  in  the  midst  of  a  stirring  busi- 
ness career,  are  longing  and  planning  for  the  repose  in 
which  they  may  enjoy  the  fruits  of  their  toil  ?  Almost 
every  man  of  business  has  a  land  of  promise  in  the 
distance — a  goodly  land,  watered  with  pure  streams 
and  shaded  with  vines  and  fig  trees !  He  purposes  to 
retire  into  some  sweet  valley  of  Canaan,  where  he  shall 
find  a  full  recompense  for  the  toils  of  the  wilderness. 
Now,  I  do  not  affirm  that  such  anticipations  are  all  evil, 
or  that  it  is  under  all  circumstances  wrong  to  realize 
them.  A  man  may  retire  from  successful  business  with 
au  honest  purpose  to  use  his  gains  for  the  glory  of  God, 
and  everywhere  he  may  find  opportunities  to  work  for 
his  Master.  But  I  do  say  that  the  idea  of  a  perfect  re- 
pose in  this  world  is  a  mere  dream  of  foolish  and  indo- 
lent human  nature.  And  the  modified  anticipation  of 
retirement  from  worldly  cares  for  the  purpose  of  doing 
good,  is  in  almost  every  case  "a  hope  deferred  that 
makes  sick  the  heart  ;"  even  when  it  is  not  a  self- 
deception,  by  which  men  postpone  the  claims  of  present 
duty.  Amid  the  uncertainties  that  attend  such  anticipa- 
tions let  me  commend  to  you  a  certain  and  more  glori- 
ous scheme  ;  even  the  scheme  of  devoting  the  fruits  of 
a  life-long  toil  to  the  service  of  God,  not  to  be  blazoned 
in  a  splendid  will  or  monumentalized  of  some  great 
public  trust  which  the  pride  and  villainy  of  men  will 
pervert ;  but  by  consecrating  a  full  proportion  of  them 
as  fast  as  they  ripen.     Let  me  say  to  young  men,  and 


20 

especially  to  those  who  are  engaged  in  successful  busi- 
ness, banish  this  idea  of  making  enough  for  yourself 
and  then  resting  to  enjoy  it — 'tis  a  mean,  shrivelled,  un- 
christian idea  ;  and  embrace  the  higher  and  holier 
purpose  of  working  all  your  life  for  Grod's  cause.  Begin 
now  and  continue  till  your  last  day  to  gather  silver 
and  gold  and  social  influence  into  the  Lord's  treasury. 
Be  willing  to  die  on  Mount  Nebo,  if  your  closing  eye 
may  be  cheered  by  the  prospect  of  great  prosperity  in 
the  Church  :  a  prospect  made  certain  by  your  liberality 
and  faithfulness  till  death.  No  danger  that  a  man  who 
goes  to  work  in  such  a  spirit  will  ever  come  to  want, 
or  fail  of  a  large  success.  God  will  bless  him  in  basket 
and  in  store.  And  if  he  live  many  years,  his  last  days 
shall  be  genial  and  fruitful.  If,  indeed,  your  old  age  is 
to  be  querulous  and  dissatisfied,  clinging  with  desperate 
fondness  to  this  world's  goods,  and  having  no  heart 
interest  in  the  life  beyond, — then  we  should  say,  Go — 
retire  to  some  far  country — leave  your  merchandize 
and  seek  among  the  pure  works  of  God  to  keep  some 
green  spot  in  your  heart.  There  are  more  than  enough 
such  old  men  in  the  Church  and  in  the  marts  of  trade  ; 
and  as  they  stand  clutching  the  purse-strings  like  an- 
other Judas,  and  mingling  their  complaints  like  a 
second  Nabal  with  the  counsels  of  God's  people, — Satan 
chuckles  over  them, — saying,  "See  how  the  boasted 
love  of  Christ  grows  cold  with  years — see  how  these 
professed  heirs  of  heaven  hold  on  to  the  world  the 
nearer  they  come  to  their  inheritance  !" 

But  0,  if  you  may  have  an  old  age  like  Moses,  and, 
thank  God,  like  many  to  whom  Israel  in  these  days 
rises  up  in  the  gate  to  do  honor  ;  if  as  wealth  increases 
you  might  impart  it  more  liberally  to  every  good  enter- 


21 

prise  ;  if  as  you  draw  near  to  Mount  Nebo  your  interest 
in  the  Church  might  grow,  and  your  love  for  God's 
people  become  more  tender  ;  then,  your  presence  shall 
be  as  a  pillar  of  fire  in  the  wilderness  ;  the  minister  • 
who  loves  you  in  your  young  manhood  will  cling  to  and 
lean  upon  you  more  fondly  as  you  grow  old  together, 
and  children  of  the  covenant  yet  unborn  will  rise  up  to 
bless  your  memory. 

IV.     THE    PUBLIC    ESTIMATION    OP    MOSES. 

We  allude  under  this  head,  more  particularly  to  the 
expressions  of  love  and  sorrow  which  followed  his 
death.  "  And  the  children  of  Israel  wept  for  Moses  in 
the  plains  of  Moab  thirty  days."  The  whole  nation 
miited  in  doing  honor  to  the  memory  of  the  departed. 
If  there  were  any  who  had  opposed  and  spoken  evil  of 
him  during  his  life,  now  that  he  was  gone,  their  enmity 
was  disarmed.  Every  man  felt  bereaved  and  joined  in 
the  universal  expression  of  sorrow.  Right  it  is  thus  to 
mourn  over  the  death  of  the  great  and  good.  Their 
departure  is  a  grievous  loss,  for  the  world  has  but  few 
to  whose  character  men  may  look  for  an  example,  and 
in  whose  life  they  may  feel  an  honest  pride.  More- 
over such  mourning  embalms  their  example  and  inllu- 
ence  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  by  their  cherish- 
ed memorials,  they  being  dead,  yet  speak.  The  mem- 
ory of  a  nation's  great  and  good  men  constitute  its  pe- 
culiar treasures.  It  is  the  great  stimulus  to  enterprise 
and  virtue  ;  and  above  all,  by  the  common  interest  they 
excite,  such  memories  are  the  great  bond  of  fraternal 
union.  It  was  so  among  the  people  of  Israel.  Next 
to  their  apostacy  from  God,  the  great  danger  that 
threatened  'their  peace  and   prosperity,  was  alienation 


22 

from  each  other.  When  they  should  be  settled  in  sep- 
arate and  to  some  extent  independent  sovereignties,  and 
different  pursuits  and  social  relations  should  have  worked 
out  the  natural  results  in  their  character ;  there  was  great 
danger  that  they  would  wax  proud  and  break  the  bond 
of  fraternity.  Moses  foresaw  and  cautioned  them  with 
his  dying  words  against  this  peril.  And  we  say  that 
next  to  his  precepts,  his  own  memory  was  the  most 
powerful  preventive.  They  all  gloried  in  him  ;  his 
fame  was  their  common  inheritance.  And  when  five 
centuries  after  they  were  separated  into  two  bands, 
the  name  of  Moses  and  the  fondness  with  which  they 
clung  to  his  memory,  kept  them  from  becoming  utterly 
estranged.  We  think  it  will  be  no  digression  from  the 
spirit  of  this  discourse  to  intimate  how  this  example 
applies  to  us  in  our  civil  relations.  I  deem  it  no  pre- 
sumption to  institute  a  comparison  between  the  deliv- 
ei'cr  of  Israel  and  that  modern  Moses,  who  led  our 
fathers  through  the  wilderness  of  war  to  the  borders 
of  our  goodly  heritage  ;  at  whose  tomb  the  affections 
of  our  whole  coimtry  center  and  mingle  with  filial  fond- 
ness. As,  while  those  twelve  States  of  Israel  dwelt 
peaceably  together  in  their  glorious  confederation,  the 
last  counsels  of  their  deliverer  were  at  once  their  pride 
and  the  bond  of  their  union  ;  as  when  in  an  evil  hour 
Ephraim  began  to  vex  Judah,  and  Judah,  Ephraim, 
the  heart  of  the  true  Israelite  turned  mournfully  to  the 
memory  of  those  better  counsels  and  more  glorious 
days  ;  so  should  we  be  bound  together  by  the  memory 
of  our  great  leader  ;  and  if  it  ever  comes  to  the  worst 
and  the  strife  of  brotherhood  writes  Ichabod  on  the 
shattered  memorials  of  our  country's  glory  (which,  Grod 


23 

forbid),  so  shall  some  of  us  turn  to  read   and  blot  his 
farewell  words  with  a  patriot's  tears  ! 

There  is  yet  another  reflection  suggested  by  this 
record.  "  And  so,"  says  the  text,  "the  days  of  weephig 
and  mourning  for  Moses  were  ended."  Of  course  this 
does  not  mean  that  the  people  ceased  at  the  expira- 
tion of  a  month  to  feel  their  loss  and  cherish  the  mem- 
ory of  the  departed.  It  only  means  they  ceased  from 
the  public  and  formal  expression  of  their  sorrow.  They 
had  spent  thirty  days  on  the  borders  of  their  inheri- 
tance in  these  funereal  rites.  They  had  given  full  ex- 
pression to  that  grief  which  would  still  abide  in  many 
a  soul,  but  which  ought  not  to  hinder  them  from  the 
real  enjoyments  and  duties  of  life.  They  have  other 
employments  than  to  linger  weeping  on  the  banks  of 
Jordan.  The  wants  of  their  children,  the  cherish- 
ed hopes  of  the  land  of  promise,  the  claims  of  their 
glorious  destiny  are  pressing  upon  them.  Joshua,  their 
new  leader,  puts  off  his  sackcloth  and  girds  on  his  ar- 
mor and  calls  on  them  to  go  forward. 

Here  then  is  a  lesson  for  us.  It  can  never  be 
the  chief  business  of  our  life  to  weep  and  lament. 
There  must  be  a  limit  to  such  mourning  as  unfits  us  to 
go  bravely  forward  in  the  performance  of  duty.  The 
afflicted  soul  may  be  allowed  the  comely  expression  of 
his  grief,  and  while  the  sorrow  is  fresh,  a  merciful  Fath- 
er will  not  be  oftended  if  he  sits  down  for  a  while  to  its 
indulgence.  But  there  is  no  virtue  and  there  may  be 
much  sin  in  grief.  The  sooner  he  can  rise  and  gird 
himself,  and  say  with  David,  "Wherefore  should  I 
mourn  ?"  the  better  for  his  own  comfort  and  the  more 
likely  is  he  to  secure  God's  favor.  Indeed  it  is  one  of 
the  blessed  p  revisions  made  for  our  comfort  that  the  very 


24 

effort  to  put  a  cheerful  courage  ou,  after  a  little  time, 
softens  affliction,  and  almost  transfigures  it  into  joy. 
It  is  not  that  the  memory  of  the  departed  is  forgotten. 
Oh,  no !  though  the  household  may  grow  in  numbers 
and  in  loveliness,  the  absent  child  still  comes  back  daily 
to  the  parent's  heart ;  and  often  amid  the  busiest  scenes, 
the  bright  face  and  sweet  voice  of  one  far  away  mingles 
with  their  thoughts.  But  as  time  rolls  on,  the  vision 
becomes  more  and  more  sweet  and  welcome,  gradually 
losing  the  lineaments  of  eartli,  and  putting  on  an  an- 
gel's garb.  The  new  grave  that  is  so  barren  and  repul- 
sive to-day,  will  be  covered  by  another  sprhig  with 
green  sod  and  fragrant  flowers.  Birds  will  sing  and 
build  their  nests  there.  The  morning  and  evening 
light  will  glance  softly  upon  it,  until  it  becomes  an  at- 
tractive spot.  And  thus,  too,  the  affliction  that  gar- 
nered the  precious  dust  in  its  bosom,  shall  be  mellowed 
in  the  distance  till  it  becomes  a  pleasant  memory.  All 
over  these  fields  of  time  ' '  hght  is  sown  tor  the  right- 
eous, and  gladness  for  the  upright  in  heart.  Grief  itself 
scatters  the  germs  of  joyful  anticipation.  This  slumber- 
ing dust  is  but  the  seed  corn  of  the  resurrection  har- 
vest. These  days  of  absence  are  but  the  needful  pre- 
paration for  an  eternal  reunion.  There  the  affinities 
of  the  new-born  soul  shall  be  fully  developed  and  grati- 
fied in  the  vision  of  God.  There,  too,  the  sanctified 
affections  of  earth  shall  be  renewed  and  intensified  in 
a  fellowship,  amid  whose  joys  it  shall  be  said  in  a  higher 
and  truer  sense,  "'and  so  the  days  of  their  weeping 
and  mourning  were  ended." 


Princeton  Theological  ,Semi,;3[7,,,  Li^.^^j," 


11012  01213   4864 


